Page 13 - bne_newspaper_February_16_2019

Central Europe
February 16, 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 13
The government dismissed the report as a politically motivated and biased attack by a “Soros organisation” ahead of the European Parliamentary elections, referring to the
Poland concedes setback in quest to stop Nord Stream 2
bne IntelliNews
Poland’s hopes to stop the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline were dashed last week, as Germany and France joined forces to push through a compro- mise wording of amendments to EU’s gas market rules that will result in the weakening of the bloc’s joint control over the controversial project.
Bickering over the pipeline, which will allow Rus- sia to export gas directly to Germany via pipes laid on the Baltic Sea bed between the Russian town of Ust-Luga and Germany’s Greifswald, moves now to tripartite talks between member states, the European Commission, and the European Parliament.
The talks, known as trilogue in the EU jargon, are set to start on February 12. Poland will try to ensure the EU – and not just Germany, as the compromise wording has it – can hold as much authority over the pipeline as possible.
Poland, Romania, the Baltic states, as well as Ukraine, which is not in the EU, but through which a number of Russian gas pipelines run to supply Western Europe, are all opposed to Nord Stream 2. Among the eastern members of the EU, Bul-
Hungarian-born billionaire George Soros, who has become public enemy number one for the right- wing nationalist government of Viktor Orban.
Pipelay vessel Pioneering Spirit entered the Baltic Sea on December 12, 2018 on its journey to join Nord Stream 2 construction fleet.
garia and Hungary – seen as pro-Russian – see no problem with the pipeline.
The opposing eastern countries say the pipeline will present Moscow with an opportunity to bypass Ukraine and thus increase geopolitical leverage over Kyiv and the region, where anti-Russian sen- timent runs strong.
When the European Commission tabled amend- ments to the EU’s gas directive in 2017, it seemed to address Poland’s concerns over the pipeline as giv- ing Russia too big a role in supplying gas to the bloc.
The EU’s energy mix is nearly 25% natural gas, 70% of which is imported with Russia supplying some 40% of that. The second biggest supplier, Norway, is responsible for about 25%.
The amendments would put Nord Stream 2 under EU rules stating ownership of gas transmission infrastructure must be separate from that of the commodity itself. The rules would apply to all
gas projects in the EU even if they are originated outside the bloc, which is often the case, given the EU’s dependence on gas imports.